1. Field Of The Invention
This patent relates to a beverage container holder for hot or cold liquids. More particularly, this patent relates to a beverage container holder that is made from a single sheet of insulative material and collapses for easy shipping and storage.
2. Description Of The Related Art
Aluminum cans and glass bottles are commonly used as containers for keeping and serving cold beverages. Hot beverages such as coffee or tea, especially those served by take out shops, are often served in laminated paperboard cups. While these containers are undeniably popular, they all share the same disadvantage. Aluminum, glass and, to a lesser extent, paperboard, are poor insulating materials. Containers made from these materials tend to allow a large amount of heat transfer to or from the liquid contents. Thus cold beverages served in aluminum cans or glass bottles tend to gain heat quickly while hot beverages served in relatively thin laminated paperboard cups tend to lose heat quickly when exposed to ambient temperatures.
A number of beverage container holders have been proposed to reduce the amount of heat transfer to or from a cold or hot beverage. For example, Henderson U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,611 teaches an insulated beverage container holder made of insulative foam that can be collapsed for easy storage and reused. The holder is made from a single sheet of foam material cut into two identical rectangular halves connected by a bottom portion shaped to conform to the shape of a beverage container. The two halves are folded on top of each other and stitched or vinyl welded together to form the holder. Henderson Pat. U.S. No. 4,648,525 teaches a two-piece foam insulative beverage container holder made from a sheet of insulative foam material folded into the shape of a cylindrical beverage container holder and then held together by a strip of seam tape affixed to a vertical seam. While both of these holders are suitable for their particular purpose, neither is made from recyclable paper materials. Furthermore, both require an additional vinyl layer as a printing media for decorative graphics or advertising. Although collapsible, the foam material takes up more space than pressed paper materials.
Other references disclose sleeve-type holders without a bottom for holding hot beverage containers. For example, Sorenson U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,497 teaches a sleeve type beverage container holder made from an arcuate web of pressed paper pulp with opposite extending partial slits so that the web can be rolled into a frusto-conical shape with the slits interlocked. A cup may then be inserted into the open top of the holder and held by grasping the holder. The pressed paper pulp is textured to increase the insulative property of the holder. Similarly, Nurse U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,633 teaches a sleeve-type beverage cup holder having oppositely extending tabs that can be interlocked to form a frusto-conical cup holder. Both sleeve-type patents eliminate the need for nesting two cups together for serving hot beverages. However, both provide only a limited amount of insulation due to the limited area of the cup that is wrapped by the insulative sleeve. Furthermore, neither sleeve-type holder is suitable for holding cylindrical cans or bottles containing cold beverages.
Thus it is an object of the present invention to provide an insulative beverage container holder that can be made from a single sheet of material.
Another object of the invention is to provide a beverage container holder that can be manufactures using between 98 and 100 percent post consumer raw materials.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a beverage container holder that can accept printing and embossing without the need for lamination.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a beverage container holder that collapses flat for ease of storage and shipping.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a beverage container holder that reduces the amount of heat transferred to or from the beverage.
Further and additional objects will appear from the description, accompanying drawings, and appended claims.